The Singing Diva

Good evening everyone! Great week for the most part. Not a bad weekend. We had some bizarre February weather with 60s-near 70's up to Wednesday! It was unreal! When Mia got out of school, we immediately got home, she went to the bathroom and we hit up the park. Normally, we'd just go to the park but from incidents in the past, the park bathrooms have been locked during the Winter months. Anyways, so we took Remi for a walk and she ran into her classmate and boy-next-door Max at the park. The kids ran around and enjoyed what would be the very last day of the warm weather.

Friday, I took the day off so that later, Myself, Jill and both sets of Mia's Grandparents could watch her perform and sing at the Kindergarten Friendship Concert. There were 3 classes of kids. 20+22 each. They all sounded great and the songs were adorable. As far as Mia, she sang her little heart out. Did all the motions, and had an awesome time. We were all so proud of her. She's really come a long way from 3K when she refused to sing to now in Kindergarten singing in front of a much larger group.

Later, we all went out to MOD pizza for some much deserved food. Saturday, Jill had acupuncture after a few hard weeks of manual labor at the new studio space. I took Mia to and from dance in between the Chelsea vs Swansea game only really catching about maybe 10 minutes total of the match. We won 3-1 grabbing an important 3 points giving us a 10 point lead over the Spurs. Later, we did some grocery shopping, had a very late lunch and watched the Penguins vs Flyers game. Another great game and win for the good guys. This was probably the first game I've been able to watch all season. Not surprising since most of the games are at night when I'm at work :( Mia even watched the game despite claiming to be a Hawks fan since Jill is. Psfff. Always, after the match, she passed out on the couch. I took her up to her room and drew till about 1am. I had to finish a rather difficult lunch note of Princess Poppy from Trolls. Don't think I'm drawing anymore. To blend the pinks is just super difficult. I need to get better at my soft Prismacolor pencils. It's difficult. I struggled with my drawing last week of Disgust. I used normal pencils on Poppy. I think for the most part it turned out okay. Earlier in the afternoon, we visited Mia's friends selling Girl Scout cookies at the local Pick N Save. Mia's addicted to the Lemonade ones and Jill got the coconut chocolate ones for herself.

Today, didn't do much. Jill and Mia went to my sister in law's clothing event. I did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. Mia called me before I left for work to excitingly say that she's lost her 4th tooth! She now has two missing up top giving her that authentic hockey mouth look. It's crazy. She'll be super excited to show her friend Charlie her missing tooth because she has the same two missing up top as well. It'll be funny.


This week's a weird one. I work tomorrow and then I'm off for three days in a row. I've got a lot of vacation to burn up so I'm using two days this week in that. Thursday I took off for a different reason: I'm volunteering at the Journey to the Arts program at her school. I'll be working back stage during the performance and helping get the kids ready for whatever it is they're doing. I'm sort of in the dark about everything so I'll find out this week what I've got to do.

That's it for now, thanks for reading!

Daddy/Daughter Day

Good morning everyone. Hope you all enjoyed the fantastic weather (if you're in the Midwest area) It was a busy week per the usual. I was off Tuesday and helped out at Mia's Valentine's Day party. It was my first party at her school to help out at. The kids were really good (I heard at the Christmas one they were crazy) I had groups of 4-5 at a time decorating cookies with frosting, icing and candied eyeballs. Yes, eyeballs. All of the kids used them. Total big hit. All of the parents that volunteered had different stations. Mine sort of was the trickiest because most of the kids were taking their time with decorating their custom cookies. Some ate them instantly. Others saved to eat/show their parents later. Mia saved hers. After I cleaned up the mess, the kids played hot potato before heading out for the day. Mia loved all of the different valentines she got. I had picked up a 4-pack of brownies for Jill for the holiday. She loved them.

Wednesday, I bought some new tires for my car. Probably didn't need to spend the amount that I did, but thankfully I've got a rebate card coming :) Mia came home from school with a thank you picture from her friend Noelle that I drew the dragon picture for. So sweet. Saturday morning was dance class. Jill and I dropped her off and Jill left soon for Schaumburg to hang out with her BFF's for the day. Mia and I went to the park after dance and had a picnic. After we came home, she went to her friend Noelle's house to hang out and play outside with her, her sister and the neighbor girl Mia frequently plays with at recess. They played for a couple hours before Mia and I got ready for our date night. We went to Applebee's for dinner followed by Lego Batman. Great dinner (despite the lousy service) and awesome movie. It was really nice having this time with her over the weekend while Jill got to hang out with friends that don't live in the area anymore. Sunday, we went to the park again but this time with Mommy and not Remi. I missed the Chelsea vs Wolverhampton match Saturday due to my promise to hang out with Mia all day. They won 2-0, but the day was more more enjoyed spending it with Mia. We also sent out invites to Mia's birthday party. So far, confirmed 3 girls.

This week, she has her friendship concert on Friday so I took off for that. Hoping the weather sticks around a bit before we got hit with some more cold. Tomorrow, Mia's lunch note drawing with be her 100th that I've drawn for her. Very stoked about that.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Creativity Never Sleeps

Good evening everyone. Hope you all enjoyed the week and your weekend. The week started pretty rough. As posted in my last entry, Mia started the week sick. She said she was dizzy Monday and stayed home from school. Tuesday, still not right. She didn't want to miss school, but stayed home one more day. Wednesday was the 100th day of school so there was NO way she was missing it. She survived the day and had a great time at school. She did her homework when she got home and we watched Trolls. 

She survived the rest of the week and hoped to be well enough for dance on Saturday morning. She got through dance just fine and went to some sort of Women's convention at the expo center. I enthusiastically stayed home and worked on some projects. They were both for Mia's friends. One, was Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon for her friend Noelle who had a really bad fever Thurs-Friday. A little bird told me she's obsessed with dragons and that movie so it was a no brainer I'd draw her Toothless to cheer her up. Saturday, Mia told me her other friend Makayla is a big fan of my art and wanted Rosita from "Sing" drawn for her. Okay, sure. So after I knocked out Toothless last night, I started working on Rosita. I think I had restarted that drawing 3-4 times before getting the shape and form just right. It's not nearly done, but its coming along really nicely. Toothless, I did in a real sketchy pen/color pencil attempt so hopefully Noelle digs it. 

Picked up the girls later, we came home, organized and changed things around in Mia's room,  made some dinner and put on a movie. Mia was passed out before dinner was out. Seriously, was out the rest of the night. So, I did some drawing before I went to bed. 

The next morning I got up early to watch the Chelsea vs Burnley game. Thought this should have been an easier match than it was but they said at home, Burnley is pretty solid. We got a goal in the first 8 minutes. Pedro netted one in the bottom right corner. Later, they nailed us with a free kick to even the game the rest of the match. Costa was struggling to get any chances at getting a goal as well as others. 10 points still ahead on the table. FA Cup this weekend. Gotta knock out Wolverhampton. Mia woke up an hour later, happy but very hungry. She had some breakfast, we did some homework and put together her valentines for Tuesday's party before I went to work.

This week is certainly a busy one. I'm off Tues-Wed (YES!!!) for Mia's valentines day party at her school. I get to run the cookie decorating table. Hopefully the kids have fun. Wed, I hope to get new front tires. Saturday, Mia's got dance and Jill's leaving town for the day so Mia and I get to spend the entire day together. We're planning on seeing Lego Batman. I kind of want to take her out to dinner as well, so we'll see if that happens. 

That's all for now, thanks for reading! 

Whatever the Weather

Good evening everyone. I would have wrote this morning per the usual, but I had Mia home ill today. She woke up feeling dizzy and not feeling good, so she spent the day with me before I went to work.
The week wasn't too bad. Wednesday I finally got my oil changed. Still need to get some tires. Hopefully very soon before the next batch of crappy weather hits us. After Mia came home from school, we did some homework and waited for Jill to come home from work. After she got home, we ran to Mayfair and the girls explored some stores. We stumbled onto this very interesting store called BoxLunch. Lots of pop culture clothes, collectibles etc from all kinds of genres and subjects including Disney, Game of Thrones, Marvel and Gilmore Girls just to name a few. The profits help benefit the local food banks. Jill found a top and shirt for an early birthday present so we got that.

I did a picture for Mia's friend Cecilia during the week of Moana. Mia told me she really wanted a picture from me, so I spent the majority of my Wednesday evening working on this. I think Mia said she liked it. Saturday morning, I got up early to watch the Chelsea game. They played earlier in the week against Liverpool and drew 1-1 unfortunately. David Luiz had a sneaky goal that royally pissed off Liverpool fans, but in the end, we couldn't convert a PK for a game winning goal. Bad on Costa, but it happens. Anyways so I got up early to watch the Blues take on rivals Arsenal. I knew this would be a great game, but didn't think we'd win 3-1.  Alonso started it off early with a header and Hazard had one of the most beautiful runs all season to get the 2nd goal. Fabregas took advantage of a bad pass and chipped it over Cech. Great game. Arsenal didn't look like they wanted this match. Chelsea grabbed the game by the scruff and ran off with it. Speaking about Chelsea, former Blue Lampard retired from soccer/football and Ivanovic made it official to leave the club for Zenit St Petersburg. Two quality Blues players that we won't ever forget.

 After the game, Jill and I drove to her studio to do some manual labor moving some heavy duty walls while Grandpa Chicago took Mia to dance class. We spent a good 4 hours working on these to move to their new space. Super exhausted by the end of the day. After wards, we went to the pet expo with my Mom. Tons of beautiful dogs and cats. I really love the big malamutes and husky dogs. Mia likes the smaller ones. Later, we had dinner at Jill's parents house. Mia lost ANOTHER tooth totaling 3 teeth so far. She was pretty excited this little bugger finally fell out. Sunday, we didn't do that much. Mia did her homework and we met up with my in-laws for brunch before I went to work. Less Than Jake released a new EP this week and I've desperately been trying to buy it online on iTunes and for some stupid reason, iTunes isn't working at ALL to download it. UGHHHH!!!!!

This week, I think she's going to hang out with her friend Charlie after school on Wednesday. Should be fun. She really wants to bring her homework by and work together on it. Dance this weekend after the Chelsea match. Not sure what else is planned.

Thanks for reading!

The Quest For The Enchanted Fashion Boots

Good evening everyone. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. The week started off a bit rough with Mia staying home from school due to a lingering fever. She got through it and made it to school the next day. We were a bit worried she'd still be ill but not say anything to her teacher. I texted my father in law from work on my break and he said she was feeling better when he picked her up. Phew.
Wednesday after school, I took Mia shopping for the coveted black fashion boots. We have looked EVERYWHERE! Payless, Target, Kohls, a kids resale place etc. Nothing. I was getting more and more discouraged.So was Mia.

 All hope was crumbing...but we had one more idea..One more thought that just maybe they'll have some boots at Justice at the mall. Justice is another kids store that focuses on girls her age and older. Lots of bright pinks and blues splattered all over the clothing. In other words, a perfect place for her. We looked through their very small selection of footwear and just about when I thought they didn't have anything for her, we found one pair in her size in the style she liked. She quickly tried them on. BOOM. Fit perfectly. She was so incredibly happy that she found the shoes she wanted. They were on sale too. Bonus. As we walked out, she was smiling so much it made my heart happy. I know they're shoes which shouldn't be a big deal, but to see her that happy about something she's going to wear till she can't fit in them anymore is fantastic. One of the main reasons why she wanted a pair, was to attempt to match Jill's boots. Jill is her role model and she aspires to be and look like her all the time, while at the same time, can create her own look that gives her confidence.

She immediately tried them on when we got home again. Perfect. She couldn't wait to show Jill.
Thursday, I had left a lunch note that in my opinion, was one of the best drawings I've done. I spent the majority of my Wednesday drawing a picture of Rey from Star Wars-The Force Awakens for Mia. She's the reason why Mia is liking the franchise and Mia really likes her. I was curious if she knew who the drawing was of when she opened her lunch. She didn't know at first, but when her friend Ryan told her it was Rey (who coincidentally dressed as Rey for Halloween) Mia said "Oh yeah, I knew that". Drawing-wise, I'm getting way more confident with everything I've been drawing the last week or so. Some, I haven't put a lot of effort in, but the ones that I really put a lot of work into turn out fantastic. This was something different for me to attempt and I'm very happy with the final result. For tomorrow, I drew a pretty rad Ursula.

Saturday, she had dance class and I missed Chelsea's win in the FA Cup match. 4-0. Easy peasy. Missing tomorrow's big match against Liverpool but I'll be damned if I miss the early 6:30am game against Arsenal on Saturday. After dance, we drove to my brother's house for his kiddo's 4th birthday party. Mia had a lot of fun playing with the cousins.  Sunday, we didn't do a lot. Mia drew some beautiful portraits of Jill and I before I went to work.

This week, not a lot going on except dance on Saturday and the match. I've got some soccer stuff to design up and an oil chance Wednesday.

Have a great week and thanks for reading!

Beyond The Music

Good evening everyone. Hope you all got to enjoy the weekend. I know some are upset today about the Packers losing, but hopefully you can move on. The week was a pretty busy but mostly enjoyable one.  I've been really stepping up my lunch notes for Mia this week. I had sort of a misfire with the Alice and Cheshire Cat, but overall it turned out okay. The ones I'm most proud of were Mr. Big from Zootopia and Naveen in frog form from The Princess and the Frog.  Both images, I used a single color pencil on and was able to create the images close enough to the real thing. I'm very stoked about it and hope to keep up the good work. My GoPro Hero 4Silver came in over the week as well. I have yet to really dive into what it can do but I can't wait to explore it. I've basically put a battery in it and make sure I've got all the parts and SD card. I looked online for a good camera for months and after some dead ends, I decided with some Christmas money to look into a GoPro. We're planning a trip to Hawai'i in a year or two and it would be nice to have a camera that can be used in water, but still have good solid quality. I also want to use this for Torrent games, videos and Flood Supporters Group images as well.

Last week my all-time favorite band Less Than Jake performed a live "practice set" on Facebook. I don't always listen to them, but they are and have been my favorite band for so many years. Mia even likes them as well. It was great to watch them perform even a short set. Wednesday, I picked up Mia from school and her friend Noelle and Mia walked home together. It was nice and fun for the girls to walk home and talk on their way. It's fun having a friend from school in the neighborhood that sometimes gets to walk with Mia. Noelle typically takes the bus but since the weather wasn't that bad, the kids walked home. Mia got her homework done and we relaxed before dinner with Jill. My tattoo artist Marcus had given me two stencils he hand-drew for Mia of foxes and I tried to put one on her and messed it up. I'll try it again another time.
Friday was inauguration day. I completely avoided watching the circus show of Trump getting sworn into office. It totally proved that even a lying celebrity with zero political experience can some how get to rule the free world. Our country is indeed, in some serious trouble. On a better note, the weekend was pretty enjoyable. Saturday, Mia had dance and loved it. She loves to tell us that she's doing better each time. Later, her and I went ice skating while Jill went into her new studio space to do some work. They had free skating day at Eble Ice Arena so you can imagine how busy they were. Mia had a blast and always loves going skating with me. She only fell once but it was because the diva kept jumping while holding my hand and when we went around a turn, she jumped and she let go of me. Silly kid.

Later, we met up with Jill and went to my brother's hockey game. His wife, kids, mother in law AND my parents all joined. Even though they lost, it was a fun outing. After wards, Jill, Mia and I got pizza and a movie.

Sunday I watched the Chelsea vs Hull City match. Great game and well-deserved 3 points. They were struggling at times trying to break through the back line but they got the win they needed. Mia unfortunately got a fever Sunday and was laying around most of the day. Jill said she would wake up from time to time to eat some apples but that was about it. When I got home from work, she was asleep but woke up to change into something cooler before going back to bed. I'm pretty sure she's staying home tomorrow, but I hope she can bounce back and make it.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Ice Ice Castles

Good morning everyone! Middle of January and its already shaping to be a busy few months here. Mostly, art wise dividing time between graphic design projects with the Torrent/Flood and my newest project, which will be commission art for Jill's new photography studio space in Downtown Waukesha. Very excited about that and look forward to selling art in a store front. The week was pretty busy at work and by 'busy" I mean downright depressing. From getting screamed at by an elderly customer Friday, to the car wash busting at work its just been a real pain. Saturday, Mia started her 2nd semester of dance class. She's been looking forward to starting dance again for weeks. They added another girl to the class totally 3 kids. After wards, I watched 20 or so minutes of the Chelsea vs Leicester match before we drove to Madison to meet Jill's family.  The Blues ended up winning 3-0 picking up 3 points and are comfortably ahead of the Spurs. We had lunch, and drove to the ice castles. They were absolutely beautiful. It was super cold out but we tried our best not to freeze. Yours truly was the biggest idiot forgetting to wear a 2nd pair of socks. My toes were absolutely freezing.

We waited about an hour to go down a 2.5 second slide. Mia loved it. I smacked my arm into something and bruised my tailbone a bit. Overall, the castles were a lot of fun and well-worth checking out of you don't mind being cold. Later, we grabbed some dinner before heading home for the night. Mia fell asleep almost immediately after turning on Star Wars-A New Hope. Kid was totally worn out. She stayed asleep till 9:30 the next morning. Sunday, her friend Noelle stopped over to sell some of those Girl Scout cookies. The kids played for about an hour while we chatted her her Mom. The girls are pretty adorable playing

This week, lots of graphic design work. Today, Mia got MLK Jr. Day off so we're going to relax and enjoy the day before I go to work. None of her friends were available to hang out, so we're just going to chill. The weather isn't the best so we'll take advantage of the time together.

Thanks for reading.